My Ashbory Bass
A lot of people visit this website courtesy of Google looking for information about the Ashbory bass guitar. Seeing as I own one and there wasn't a dedicated page before, I thought I'd cobble some information together for all you weary web travellers. Firstly, I got turned on to the Ashbory bass in 2000 when I saw it being used by Trey Gunn at a King Crimson concert. Expecting the instrument to cost thousands of pounds, I was surprised that you could pick one up new for around $200. At that time, there weren't that many stockists in the UK selling the Ashbory Bass, but luckily I was visiting Los Angeles for my birthday in February 2001. A search on the web, brought up the details of Highland Park Music & Pawn. I got in touch with Doug the propreitor and arranged to pick one up on my visit. So for $200, I got myself a little bargain in black.
The Ashbory itself is a unique instrument. It is around half the size of a standard bass guitar, fretless and uses silicon rubber strings. It is the combination of the strings and the pickup that makes the unique sound - it is supposed to give you a similar tonal range to that of a regular upright fretless bass for a fraction of the price. I like the tone of the guitar, but there are issues that make it difficult to play. Firstly, it is the tuning. My instrument is always slipping out of tune, especially the "G" string. The "G" string is always the first one to snap too and it can be expensive to buy replacement strings. Luckily, I found a man on the net that sells replacement "G" strings for a fraction of the price.
Here are some pictures of my instrument:
Here are some sound samples I've recorded using my Ashbory:
This is the Ashbory played with a percussion track
And now I have recorded a short video clip for anyone interested in the Ashbory, so that you can see and hear what this marvellous little instrument is really like:
Or you can download a high quality version of this video file from here. Just right-click the link and select "Save As" before selecting the place on your hard drive where you want to store the file.
Ashbory Links:
The Story of the Ashbory Bass
The DeArmond Website
The LargeSound Ashbory Bass Resource Page
Replacement Ashbory G-Strings
Comments
Love the Ashbory! I had one for about two weeks and let it go because I was too impatient to work with it and familiarize myself with it. Now I regret it. I will probably build an Ashbory-type bass. There are some dudes on the web who've done this with great results - just google it.
Thanks for the sound files too!
Posted by: Matt Zink | October 14, 2005 3:46 PM
Thanks for this.
Yesterday, I recalled seeing a demo for this thing back in 1987. I was impressed, however the price back then was quite expensive, especially for a 17-year old.
After a google search ("small bass, rubber strings"), I discovered that they're making these things again.
Your youtube video was great, and I especially like the sound clips of it alone, so you can hear those rubbery strings in action.
Very cool sound. Nice job putting this info out here. Thanks!
Posted by: rtreynor | January 12, 2007 4:30 PM
Thanks to apreading the word about the Ashbory, wich is a really nice and amazing instrument. And your video explain all.
A tip: before replacing you strings, you should pre-stretch them, it will help keeping them in tune.
Posted by: Jebberz | February 15, 2007 2:02 PM
Every time I hear a clip of an Ashbory bass, the intonation is bad. I can't really tell on yours since you're just playing a bass part. I imagine it must be hard to play in tune with such a short scale and loose strings. Is it even possible? I wonder if there's a fretted version.
Posted by: Yenhke Duidul | December 2, 2007 2:57 PM
I have one, too. Itentical to the one in the video. Bought it in late 2000 or early 2001. Cool little thing. I call it "Mini Me".
It's good with people playing acoustic guitar at a party and you plug it into a small amp or a stereo aux input.
Posted by: Kevin | May 23, 2008 4:45 PM